"الملف 53/54 V (D 129) حصار الكويت" [و‎‎٢‎١] (٣٨٤/٣٩)

THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
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EASTERN (Arabia ). " v f December 30, 1935.
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CONEIDENTIAL. Section 5.
[E 7570/206/25]
Sir A. Ryan to Sir Samuel Hoare.—(Received December 30.)
{No. 352.) y/-
Sir, y Jedda, December 10, 1935.
WITH reference to my telegram No. zl6 of the 8th December, I have the
honour to forward a record, which I made before leaving Riyadh, of my
conversations there regarding the Koweit blockade.
2. I may mention that on the occasion of my first visit to the Sheiikh of
Koweit, in presence naturally of the Political Agent, I gave his Excellency
renewed assurances of the strong desire of His Majesty's Government to remove
his grievance against Ibn Saud in respect of the blockade and told him that I
was taking to Riyadh new instructions on the subject.
3. In order to impress on Ibn Saud the importance of this question in the
eyes of His Majesty's Government, I put it second only to the eastern frontier
question, when informing Fuad Bey and later the King himself, of the subject
I wished to discuss during my visit.
4. You will observe that my conversation with Fuad Bey on the
26th November was generally unsatisfactory. I think that he has already seen
for himself that the not-a-single-case-of-smuggling condition was absurd, but
was mortally afraid of his master. By the next day, he had evidently persuaded
the King to be more reasonable.
5. I consider that Fuad Bey's suggestions regarding the control of persons
carrying goods require very careful scrutiny. I did not press him to define more
precisely what he had in mind, because, while anxious to appear sympathetic
once I had gained the main point, I thought it better to wait and see how the
suggestion, as stated in general terms by Fuad Bey, would strike the authorities
in Koweit from the point of view of practicality.
6. I need hardly say that, if it should be at all possible to meet the views
of the Saudi Government as now modified, I hope that the Koweit authorities
will do so and suggest practical arrangements. I think it would be best to
continue the negotiations through this Legation, rather than suggest a resump
tion of the local conference. The great thing, in my opinion, is now to advance
as soon as possible to an exchange of notes, in the hope that Ibn Saud may then
relax his blockade measures, and to see over a period of six months or a year
how the new arrangements work. I think that Ibn Saud was greatly impressed
by the argument that his attitude hitherto has been inconsistent with his
professions of friendship for His Majesty's Government.
7. I ventured to discuss with Colonel Fowle and the Political iVgents, quite
privately and without in any way pre-judging your views, a suggestion of my
own that it would strengthen the position vis-a-vis Ibn Saud in discussions affect
ing Koweit (and Bahrein), if means could be found to confer upon the Sheikh
(and on the Sheikh of Bahrein, for similar reasons) the title of "His Highness."
As I explained to the Political Resident, I am well aware that this suggestion
may present difficulty from other points of view, but I have long felt that, in
correspondence with the Saudi Government, in which I have so often to impress
on them the importance attached by His Majesty's Government to the position
of the Sheikh of Koweit (and that of the Sheikh of Bahrein) as an independent
ruler, I should have to use the title of "His Excellency," which, however
respectable, is normally borne by subjects and which, moreover, has nowhere been
so belittled by indiscriminate use as in the Near and Middle East.
8. I am sending copies of this despatch and enclosure to the Government
of India, Bushire and Koweit.
I have, &c.
ANDREW RYAN.
[581 gg—5]
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